NoPixel is a popular whitelist Grand Theft Auto V roleplaying server, founded by Mitchell “Koil” Clout as an Arma 3 roleplaying server in 2016.¹⁾²⁾ As of 2023, Clout shares ownership with Félix “xQc” Lengyel, Lucas “Buddha” Ramos,³⁾ and Jamal “Razed” Rashid.⁴⁾

In the beginning, NoPixel started out as an Arma 3 roleplaying server that began development in May 2016⁵⁾ and launched with their custom “Silverlake” map on September 9, 2016,⁶⁾⁷⁾ Roughly around May 26, 2017, NoPixel launched a Grand Theft Auto roleplaying server,⁸⁾ then it was announced that the Arma 3 server had closed around August 2017 as focus shifted onto maintaining the Grand Theft Auto V server.⁹⁾

The retroactively named “NoPixel 1.0” concluded with a server wipe on July 31, 2018, but it was immediately followed up with a notable update that marked the start of “NoPixel 2.0” on August 1, 2018.¹⁰⁾ However, do note that NoPixel was still rather obscure until the arrival of Summit1g in March 2019,¹¹⁾ creating their first boom¹²⁾ which attracted names like Markiplier,¹³⁾ Kitboga,¹⁴⁾ or Jaboody.¹⁵⁾

With the server maintaining its popularity into the emerging pandemic, “NoPixel 2.0” concluded with a server wipe on February 2, 2021. However, the “NoPixel 3.0” update on February 5, 2021 saw unthinkable highs after their trailer garnered massive attention,¹⁶⁾ which would end up drawing in a number of famous streaming personalities like xQc,¹⁷⁾ HasanAbi,¹⁸⁾ Cr1TiKaL,¹⁹⁾ Sykkuno,²⁰⁾ Valkyrae,²¹⁾ etc.²²⁾

Around August 12, 2021, it was revealed that Daniel “DW” Tracy became a full-time developer.²³⁾²⁴⁾ In 2022, “NoPixel 4.0” was first teased as the NVE developers joined NoPixel,²⁵⁾ then “DW” would be fired²⁶⁾ and his employer TOVE initiated a lawsuit²⁷⁾²⁸⁾ as NoPixel had faced a slew of controversies that forced ownership to divest on May 31, 2023.²⁹⁾ A few months later, an update was being teased.³⁰⁾³¹⁾

These string of trailers would conclude with the announcement of “NoPixel 4.0” on September 22, 2023,³²⁾³³⁾ allowing “NoPixel 3.0” to conclude on December 12, 2024 with a novel five-year time skip.³⁴⁾ Shortly after, Twitch and Rockstar Games, who recently released a Grand Theft Auto VI trailer,³⁵⁾ came up with “GTA RP Week”³⁶⁾³⁷⁾ to coincide with the highly anticipated “NoPixel 4.0” on December 15, 2023.³⁸⁾

Despite the hype, “NoPixel 4.0” arguably came across as an unfinished product that was in desperate need of community feedback, with the most common point of criticism is that the server had prioritized MMO-like grinding. After nine months, NoPixel announced that “NoPixel 5.0” had began development on September 23, 2024,³⁹⁾ then the court case was dropped on October 24, 2024.⁴⁰⁾

• NoPixel's server resets are at 2:00am ET and 2:00pm ET. They do adjust for Daylight Savings Time.
  • 'Shift 1' (EU) is at 2:00pm ET, 'Shift 2' (NA) is at 8:00pm ET, and 'Shift 3' (AU) is at 2:00am ET.
  • At one point, 'Shift 3' got the derogatory nickname of 'degen hours' since players would associate it with intense grinding, as the 'Shift 2' factions would play catch up, and social roleplaying.
• In the past, NoPixel used to be lenient with copyrighted music, which enabled DJ events, on-the-spot karaoke,⁴²⁾ parodies, and musical insight on a character's inner machinations. Unfortunately, Twitch began issuing DMCA notices in 2020, causing NoPixel to enforce rules forbidding players from playing any sort of copyrighted music over the server's voice chat on June 7, 2020.⁴³⁾
  • However, NoPixel players have spawned an in-world music scene, which allows the players to use player-created music and the server to embed said music into the world. NoPixel 3.0 had mixtapes and radio stations, while NoPixel 4.0 has the “Nopify” app in addition to the radio stations.⁴⁴⁾
  • Of course, the downside is that the music would eventually become repetitive over time, so players usually keep the copyrighted music confined to their stream anyways.
• During the end of NoPixel 2.0, there was a last-second clause that characters who enter permadeath were not allowed to return in NoPixel 3.0, which caught a number of people off-guard.
• From 2020 to 2021, during the 2.0 to 3.0 transition, Facebook Gaming offered exclusivity deals which targeted NoPixel streamers on Twitch.^{45)46)47)48)49)50)51)} While the NoPixel streamers, specifically the Chang Gang members, would enter the platform's Top 10,⁵²⁾ most of them did not stay after their deals had expired. Some contracts, allegedly, were terminated early for failing to meet expectations.
• Around April 25, 2021, the electro house song "Empty Bed" by Saint Punk, published under the Monstercat label, became a very popular song for races and police chases in early NoPixel 3.0. Recognizing the song's immense popularity, Saint Punk would later show his appreciation for “the GTA community”⁵³⁾ and joked that the community owns the song.⁵⁴⁾
• In NoPixel 4.0, the 'Sewer Doctor' location is found near the “Toxic Basketball” section of Sewer City, taking the path behind the basketball hoop with the two toxic waste barrels. This location was added in July 2024, so the early maps of Sewer City on the NoPixel Wiki wouldn't have it listed.
• At the time of this writing, the most noteworthy alternatives is currently: Prodigy RP, PurpleRP, and ONX. The latter two have the /r/PurpleRP and /r/RPClipsONX subreddits.
• We still haven't seen the inside of that damn casino.

• NoPixel - The official website for NoPixel.
  • @nopixeltweets on Twitter - The offical Twitter account, mostly updates, teasers, and trailers.
  • /r/nopixel - The official NoPixel subreddit, not to be confused with the other subreddit.
• NoPixel on HasRoot - The unofficial list of NoPixel streamers on Twitch. Click '▶' for sorting options.
  • GTA RP Playlist - Another list of NoPixel streamers on Twitch, categorized by factions.
• NoPixel Wiki - The 10,000+ article wiki about NoPixel on Fandom. A bit frustrating to work with.⁵⁵⁾
• /r/RPClipsGTA - The de-facto NoPixel subreddit. Most streamers usually ban or censor mentions of this place, since they have some extreme biases⁵⁶⁾ and permit some toxicity.⁵⁷⁾⁵⁸⁾
• NoPixel on TVTropes - A list of tropes, which is non-comprehensive and not always up to date.